Coventry pet food bank set to expand as demand rises

The service is run from the Betty Ennis Foundation in Coventry

A pet food bank in Coventry, inspired by a couple's struggles to feed their dog, is set to expand after seeing a rise in demand.

Melinda Anthony runs the service from the Betty Ennis Foundation charity, supplying pet food and other animal essentials.

She set it up last year after encountering a plea on social media from a local couple.

"He'd been laid off through injury," she said.

"And she had been put on Universal Credit, so had got no money.

"So we put a call out and got loads of donations of food in."

Ms Anthony then approached the Betty Ennis charity's trustees, who allowed her set up a base at their site Remembrance Road.

The service is set to expand due to demand

Initially the service, modelled on other food banks, was set up to serve people in the local Willenhall area, but she said it "now makes sense to expand that further out".

"It's important for me to try and keep animals where we can in their families," she said.

Ms Anthony said she believed the cost of feeding pets had led to some owners abandoning them.

"We had a dog that was bought into the shop that had been just dumped on the street, so a warden had to come and collect it," she said.

"As the warden was on her way here, she had to collect a dog from further down the road - the owner didn't want it any more so they just chucked it out on to the street. So the warden had to prioritise that over the one we had safe in the store.

"It's becoming quite a common practice, so that's why I wanted to set this up."